Shadow Empire

Chapter 597 Father and Daughter Reconciliation and Who is Watching Who

In an upscale neighborhood on the edge of the Empire State, Burton was looking across the table at Nancy.

The father and daughter sat across the table from each other.

Nancy came back this time to get some money. She had been having a hard time recently and was a little short of money.

She recently lost her job and had just broken up with her boyfriend, so she wanted to go to another city to relax during this summer vacation.

There is a prerequisite to support her in doing all this, and that is having money.

Money is important and indispensable, but she just doesn't have it.

Since Rob's death, she rarely went home and rarely communicated with Burton. She always felt that Burton was too realistic on this issue.

That was his son and his brother, and he was actually working for the man who killed Rob!

This was fucking unbelievable. She had never seen such a cold-blooded father. Even in movies or operas, those villains were more humane than him.

She couldn't accept such a family environment and was afraid that she might become the next victim one day, so she started to live an independent life early.

But this time, she came back because she had no money.

She had thought about many opportunities for herself and Bolton to face each other again. It was possible that Bolton could not bear the inner torture, realized his mistakes, and then found her crying and seeking her forgiveness to get spiritual comfort.

It is also possible that he realized that in the end, the only person he could rely on was his daughter, so he wanted to gain her forgiveness and then leave this sad city to start a new life somewhere else.

She thought of many possibilities of them meeting again, but the only thing she hadn't thought of was that she would be the first to compromise. To her, this would be like a betrayal of Rob, even though that guy was already dead.

She also didn't think about the reason that made her compromise and betray. It was not her desire for family affection or anything else, but simply because she had no money.

What made her feel even more... full of crisis was that not only did Bolton now live in a big mansion, but that bitch shamelessly dressed herself up like a lady!

But she, the daughter of Bolton, had to come back because she had no money to pay the rent!

Damn it, what the fuck!

"I thought I would wait until you got married, then you would give me an invitation and tell me you were getting married, and I should show up at your wedding ceremony in formal attire."

Burton sat in his chair very reserved and dignified. He had recently started watching opera.

This was something he himself could not even imagine in the past, not only because he could not afford the cost of watching the opera, but more importantly, without anyone to guide him, he simply could not learn to watch the opera!

Yes, to watch opera you need to get started, learn, and understand the original work and the story before you can feel the beauty of the opera!

Lance's success made the Lance family the rulers of the underground world of Golden Port City. Some people could not contact Lance, but they could contact those under Lance, such as Bolton.

They invited Bolton to a banquet, and as long as he made a request, those people would naturally not refuse.

Bolton is a complex person. He can be absolutely controlled by his own desires. He can give up hatred and give up everything.

But he can also remain relatively calm and rational under the trend of desire without affecting his interests.

He didn't charge money or anything else, nor did he make any promises to anyone, but chose to go to the opera with some people.

I just asked you to accompany me to watch an opera, you can't ask me to do this or that.

If you ask, then I will refuse and also treat you to an opera.

Under such circumstances, he began to formally come into contact with and understand opera. He now sometimes imitates some characters in opera, and he feels that he is no longer the same person he used to be.

The mud spots on his trouser legs had been thrown away when he changed his clothes, and would never stain his trouser legs again. He was already a superior man.

Although this may be a bit... exaggerated, it cannot be said to be completely wrong.

So now when he speaks, he has a little bit of posture and accent.

This emphasis made Nancy a little confused. She didn't know her father had such a side.

At the same time, Bolton's words also made her feel nervous. She realized that she was definitely not that important in Bolton's heart.

After all, he could even give up the revenge for his own son, and she was just a girl.

Nancy didn’t know what to say. She was actually a little...unsure of what to choose.

If she continues to choose to leave and treat the situation coldly, she may become more and more distant from this family, and eventually they will become "relatives" rather than "family members."

She didn't want this, especially when she saw this big house and her former best friend wearing expensive luxury goods and looking at her like a clown like a lady.

Nancy pursed her lips and said, "I...I just find it hard to accept it for a while."

Bolton still looked at her without any expression. "Now, do you accept it?"

Accepting the fact that Rob is dead, and accepting other things.

Nancy was silent for a moment, and Burton continued, "He made a mistake."

"He sold out the family's intelligence to the outside world, causing the family to suffer huge losses, so he died."

"Nancy, he was my son, and I am filled with sorrow and regret for his death, but rules are rules."

"The family doesn't belong to one person, it belongs to all of us. Rob didn't just hurt Lance, he hurt all of us."

"In school, if you make a mistake, the teacher might punish you."

"In society, if you make a mistake, your boss may dock your salary, and your friends may ignore you and stay away from you."

"In a gang, if you make a mistake like this, this is the only way you're going to end up."

"I am saddened, but I also respect his outcome."

"If you still think this is our problem, you can continue to calm down."

Nancy remained silent, she didn't know how to start.

At this moment, the phone rang. Burton made a gesture to keep quiet, then answered the phone. "This is Burton."

"...Okay, this is very important. I understand. I will tell the boss myself."

After he hung up the phone, he called Lance's office. Lance didn't tell him anything else in the next two days, so he would be in the office the whole time.

The call was connected quickly and it was Lance who answered it. He repeated what had just been conveyed.

As he spoke, Nancy noticed that Burton, who had always had a stern face, smiled with a hint of caution.

After he hung up the phone, he glanced at his daughter and realized that she had seen all the changes in him.

He had no intention of hiding anything, and he didn't need to be so careful.

With Gerard around, he could definitely become friends with Lance like everyone else.

"That's what Rob brings to the table for me. I have to be careful all the time."

He pulled out a cigarette and lit it, "Would you like one?"

Nancy looked at him in surprise. He smiled and said, "I found a cigarette butt in your room after you left."

Nancy hesitated and picked up a cigarette, which cost 35 cents a pack. It was definitely a high-end product. She had only seen it but had never smoked it.

The father and daughter smoked in the office in silence. After a long while, she said, "How much money can he give you?"

When he heard this, a faint smile appeared on Bolton's face. "So far, in the past two years, dear, I have earned about... three or four hundred thousand. I haven't calculated it in detail."

"And the pace of making money will get faster and faster because the boss's territory is getting bigger and bigger."

"We need more people, maybe not just internally, but also externally!"

Many people were indeed envious of Morris being transferred to run a casino, as everyone knew that the casino was a lucrative business.

Even if he doesn't try to make a profit, with Lance's generosity, whoever manages the casino will definitely be able to make a lot of money.

But Burton was not envious or jealous, because he was also doing a job that could not be replaced by others.

And with Morris's job change, he is likely to be fully responsible for the Lance family's intelligence work.

This means that Lance will allocate more money to him every year, and he needs to expand outward, and expansion requires money.

It costs money to hire people, it costs money to buy off some people, it costs money to bribe foreign officials, anything related to intelligence requires money!

The benefits he could get from it were even greater. The two years of getting along with each other made him understand one thing: Lance didn't care whether he embezzled money or not, or whether he had enough to eat.

What he cares about is whether the intelligence and information he needs can reach him in time.

As long as Bolton can do this and not make so much money, Lance will continue to use him.

He will be better than he is now.

He raised his chin slightly, like a proud rooster.

Three or four hundred thousand in two years, this has exceeded the income capacity of ordinary middle-class people. He is not far away from the threshold of upper class.

When Nancy heard this number, she was so shocked that she was speechless. She realized why his best friend and good classmate could live such a free and easy life.

He should have used that money on her.

She cursed a few words in her heart and then began to think of countermeasures.

After about ten seconds, she said, "You have a point. I mean about Rob."

"Everyone has to pay for their mistakes, but...his bill is so heavy."

Bolton didn't respond to her, but continued smoking.

Nancy lowered her posture and voice. "I have been thinking about these issues for the past two years. I realized that we are a family. No matter what you do, you can't change this fact."

"Let the past be the past!"

"We are a family and we should be together, not torn apart by something that has happened."

Bolton nodded slightly, "You are right. We are a family. When your mother left, I promised to take good care of you."

"Although he is... disappointing, I intend to fulfill my duties as a father."

He paused and said, "You can live in our old house first, and then I will find you a job."

Nancy said, "I want to live here, and she and I... won't have any conflicts."

Mr. Bolton thought about it and did not refuse. “You’d better tell the truth. To be honest, I don’t have that much time and energy to resolve your dispute if it breaks out.”

"When that time comes, I'll have to let you live in the old house, which will disappoint both of us. Do you understand?"

Nancy nodded in agreement, and breathed a sigh of relief.

Bolton was very pleased with her for being able to see the situation. In fact, as things had developed to this day, he didn't even hate anyone for Rob's death.

There are other people in the gang who do wrong things, or even things they shouldn't do, and Lance will deal with them according to family rules.

It's not just Rob who is like this, it's the same for everyone else. As long as they make a mistake, they will be punished.

For example, everyone knows the undercover agent next to Allen.

Even at this time, Bolton himself was a defender of the rules rather than a potential breaker.

As a member of a vested interest group, he will be more willing than others to maintain the current rules.

As for Nancy, he didn't think she would cause any problems. She was just poor and wanted to live a good life, which was no different from them.

Nancy got permission and couldn't wait to throw away her shabby old luggage. She went to choose her own room and start all over again.

Brother Rob?

Sorry, she has also forgotten about that brother at this time. What she wants now is to live the life of a young lady, instead of continuing to live a hard life and watching her best friend become a lady!
Lance didn't know about some of the changes in the Bolton family, and even if he knew he wouldn't care, because they were all small things.

What he cares most about now is where Jordan is.

He called Hiram and told him that Jordan should be there, and then called Lawn to get Serre over.

Not long after the call was made, Hiram saw two motorcycles appear outside the film company. Two guys who didn't look like good guys stopped the motorcycles and stood across the road to observe for a while.

There is no doubt that according to Bolton's description, these two people should be the ones they are looking for.

But they just observed for a while and then rode away on their motorcycles.

They came to scout the area, and Jordan also felt the potential pressure from the Lance family, so their current idea was not to engage in a head-on conflict, but to take the people away first, and then find a way to get the account back for his good friend and take revenge.

I have to say Jordan was cautious, but he chose the wrong target. Even though he was very careful, he was like a moth that broke into a bat's nest.

No matter how he fluttered, he was completely locked!
As they left, a car followed.

In a hotel on the edge of the industrial zone, the two bikers quickly returned.

"How does it look over there?", Jordan asked.

The two men reported what they had found. "From the outside, it doesn't look like anything special. There aren't any gang members at the entrance of the company. We don't know what's going on inside."

"But their parking lot is in the alley next to the company, and there is only one entrance and exit, so all vehicles entering and leaving can be seen."

Jordan nodded. Although he didn't find out much about the Lance family, this in itself was news.

He also asked other friends, and some of them thought that the Lance family was not strong - no family was destroyed by the Lance family.

In other words, the Lance family did not achieve its current status through war.

The Cassia family died in the civil strife, while Tita and Keane took the initiative to leave Jingang City because of the heavy casualties they suffered during the civil strife.

The Lances and Kodas had clashed, but the conflict was not intense, and they were already at a disadvantage after the other two families left.

Afterwards, it was said that Bandy was killed by Bay Area in the police station. Gowry attempted to assassinate Lance but failed, so he chose to commit suicide.

No one knows where Fleming has gone and there is no news about him yet.

Stone has already begun serving his sentence.

It can be said that the Lance family got a great bargain!

This kind of news gives people a feeling of "I can do it too".

This is also the reason why Jordan doesn’t know how to evaluate the Lance family now. They seem to have done nothing, but also seem to have done something.

So he chose to be cautious.

"Go find out who their general manager is, what he looks like, and what car he drives."

"When he gets off work in the evening, follow his car and we'll pick a place on the road to start the fight."

"Don't engage in direct fire, and try not to speak if you can avoid shooting."

"Our goal is to take the person away, put him in the car and leave the city immediately. Don't stop, run all the way, and gather at the intersection of...highway and...highway after leaving Likalai State."

"Anyone have questions?"

Naturally, other people had no objections. Although they were gangsters, it didn't mean they were all fools.

If you come to someone else's territory to cause trouble and get caught, the consequences will be very serious.

No one is not afraid of death. They are afraid too, and they don't want to get hurt, but they have to come because of their face and the rules of the gang.

Everyone of them breathed a sigh of relief that Jordan made this choice.

But they didn't know that they were already very cautious, but even so, at this moment, in the parking space diagonally across the street, behind the windshield of a car, two people were staring at the hotel.

In a telephone booth not far away, someone was talking on the phone while staring at the hotel.

Twenty minutes later, another seven or eight cars arrived, along with two police cars.

Police cars are used to maintain order. After all, there may be a gunfight, and the police car sounding the alarm in time will help calm the public.

Hiram's car stopped next to the surveillance car. He sat in the passenger seat and looked at his men in the cab opposite. "They didn't leave?"

"More than a dozen left, and there are still some people inside."

Hiram frowned. It would be difficult to take action without people here, and there were so many missing people. It would be fine if only two or three were missing.

He asked the people who were following them to continue watching, and they went to a slightly farther place to wait until these people came back at night...

(End of this chapter)